Every year, it has become a tradition for the town of Reedsport to host the Missoula Children's Theatre for a week.  In this short amount of time, a full play is rehearsed and performed by students.  Once funded by the school district, it  has been a struggle to keep this tradition alive.  This year, RCLC applied for a grant from a Coquille Tribal Community Fund and was awarded the money to continue this program. 
    Students performed the play Hansel and Gretel, but it was not your average fairy tale.  Missoula plays are know for their inventive plot twists and fun musical sequences.  This play included as change of setting and characters along with a new non-violent ending, a change for those that know the traditional story. In the past, plays have included Jack and the Beanstalk, Treasure Island, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella.  To head the production, two specially trained actors come from Missoula, Montana to audition and rehearse the students, in addition to acting in the play themselves.  They travel on a grueling schedule, visiting a different school district each week, sometimes going for months without a break.
    Incredible interest was shown by the students this year, especially those from Highland Elementary School.  Tryouts began Monday, March 8th, and 52 students were selected to participate in the week of intensive rehearsals.   Approximately ten of those were Reedsport Jr/Sr High School students. 
     The lead roles of Hansel and Gretel were played by students Cole Browning and Christie Holden.  This is Christie's fourth year performing in the Missoula Children's Theatre. About her experience, she said, "I like being able to be seen on stage to show how good I can be.  And I like the costume I had, and the directors who told me what I could fix and what I was doing great on."  Although Cole has never participated in Missoula, he enjoyed the experience. His favorite part of the play was "where Micah [Lowery] says, 'And a green caterpillar' in her really cute voice." When asked about the most difficult things in acting, Cole replied, "Memorizing a buncha lines in only a week.  Otherwise, I'm really comfortable on stage. Both students plan on pursuing acting in the future, although Cole points out that "it is usually not a profitable choice."
     Many community members attended this year's performances, more than in the past.  Cast members had fun with the experience, and many look forward to doing it again next year.

     On March 5th, staff members Chelsea Tibbles and Alison Law and Yearbook Advisor Mr. Beach attended an event in Portland to prepare for next year's yearbook.  The workshop was presented by Jostens, the yearbook company used by RHS.  Several speakers with over 30 years of practical yearbook experience discussed various topics related to yearbooks.  They covered brainstorming, coverage ideas, layout planning, trends, and new developments in the yearbook industry.  Chelsea and Alison were inspired by the new ideas from schools across the country. Chelsea Tibbles said, "They had a lot of good ideas for layouts and I really liked the first speaker."
     Many advancements have been made in the yearbook industry in recent years.  They include Yearbook Interactive, a supplement to the printed yearbook which includes video clips and sound bites, and Yearbook Avenue, an online program that allows students to work on  yearbook pages from any computer with the Internet.  Reedsport's yearbook, The Chieftain, has not decided to adopt any of these programs as of yet, but was excited to learn about these new technologies.